According to local media, at least 127 people have been killed in Rwanda in floods and landslides following the heavy seasonal rains. Homes and infrastructure have been washed away, roads have been closed and landslides have engulfed several regions of the small East African country. The authorities released the first official national death toll on Tuesday afternoon, after the Rwanda Broadcasting Agency (RBA), which oversees the state-owned broadcast media, put the death toll at 109, based on local government figures.

In the worst-affected districts of Rubavu, Ngororero, Nyabihu (West), Gakenke, Burera, Musanze (North) and Nyamagabe (South), operations are underway to allow "the evacuation and temporary relocation of residents from affected and high-risk areas while the rains continue," President Paul Kagame's office said in a statement.

East Africa often suffers from floods and landslides during the rainy season, although several countries in the Horn of Africa are experiencing the worst drought in decades.

Rwanda's minister for emergency management, Marie Solange Kayisire, has called on residents to step up patrols, especially at night, so that people can be moved to safer locations in the event of heavy rains. Experts say extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and intense due to climate change.

The seasonal heavy rains that hit East Africa have also been deadly in Uganda. Six people died in a landslide caused by heavy rains in the Kisoro region in the south-west of the country, not far from the Rwandan border, the local Red Cross said.